TEHRAN – Some 635,000 hectares of natural lands added to the country’s protected areas due to the biological values, Mehr news agency reported on Monday.

To preserve the existing biodiversity over the wide geographic expanse of Iran, four types of areas have been designated for preservation and protection, including, national parks, wildlife refuges, protected areas, and natural national monuments. In 1997, the DOE held supervision over 7,563,983 hectares of such areas. Currently, the supervised areas reached about 18.5 million hectares. In a meeting held on Monday, the Supreme Council of Environment chaired by President Hassan Rouhani approved to designate some parts of natural lands as protected areas under the management of the Department of Environment (DOE).

The meeting was attended by Issa Kalantari, head of the DOE, ministers, and other members of the council.

To preserve the existing biodiversity over the wide geographic expanse of Iran, four types of areas have been designated for preservation and protection, including, national parks, wildlife refuges, protected areas, and natural national monuments. In 1997, the DOE held supervision over 7,563,983 hectares of such areas. Currently, the supervised areas reached about 18.5 million hectares.

Currently, about 18.5 million hectares of the country's lands are under the management of the DOE, according to Kioumars Kalantari deputy chief of the DOE for natural resources and biodiversity.

To preserve the existing biodiversity over the wide geographic expanse of Iran, four types of areas have been designated for preservation and protection, including, national parks, wildlife refuges, protected areas, and natural national monuments. In 1997, the DOE held supervision over 7,563,983 hectares of such areas. By the year 2003, the supervised areas reached 11,791,788.225 hectares.

A national park is a designated part of Iran’s environment - including forests, rangelands, woodlands, prairies, water, or mountains - that is an outstanding representation of Iranian nature. As such, it is brought under protection to permanently preserve its natural ecology and to create a suitable environment for the flourishing of wildlife and the growth of flora under natural conditions.

The national parks currently cover 1,649,771 hectares of the country’s area.

Protected areas also are significantly important natural resources due to their impact on wildlife breeding, preservation of plant life, or its natural state. The total area of regions protected is 6,600,601 hectares.

A Wildlife refuge has natural habitats and special climate qualifications, which are brought under protection to revive wild animals and are stretching to 3,524,181 hectares.

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